Getting Closer...

We got our monthly call and are OFFICIALLY #

Bring On The Babies

When Brian and I first got married we had a couple self-made requirements before we wanted to "start our family."

#1) I wanted to feel settled in our marriage. I anticipated this would take about 5 years.

#2) I wanted us to be home owners

#3) I wanted to finish my college education

Well we accomplished #2 almost two years ago. We had put my schooling on hold for a while as we worked to get to the point financially where we could buy a home. About 6 months after we bought our condo I started going back to school. After 6 years of "off and on" schooling at 4 different schools (I apparently have to do things the hard way) I turned in my last paper on Saturday for my Bachelors in Global Studies.



In August we will have been married for four years but since #2 and #3 are now completed, I will admit to being a little off on my timeline. I am hoping I am almost a full year off in my timeline because I certainly would like our son to be home much sooner than August 2009... So, now that our requirements have been met, (haha, like we have control over any of this)

BRING ON THE BABIES!!!!

Really what this means is we better get a referral soon because I now have much more time to dwell on the wait. Guess I will just have to put all that time and energy into a nursery!

Congratulations Kendra

The girl's list continues to fly! The Cosgrove's had a last official number of 8 but got their referral today for a baby girl. Congratulations!!!

Congratulations Michelle

I am so happy to say that my friend Michelle received a referral of a baby. I am SO excited for their family. Congratulations Michael and Michelle - we are so happy for you!!!

P.S. This makes us unofficially number

Day of Petitioning

Please be in prayer today for my friends Karen and Sharon. These AGCI families had their adoptions suspended for reasons completely out of their control. Please pray that as their files are being reviewed those making the decisions will look at their cases in favor. They want their families to be united and so do we! It will be a miracle but God can do it!!

#8

YIPEE!!!! Suzi's rumors were correct - there was a referral of an infant boy this past week making us unofficially number...

As the much more optimistic Brian added, "This means we are a third of the way there." I didn't know who was in the #1 spot for a little boy so I knew there was at least a small possibility that we could move up a spot and not find out for sure until our e-mail update. We get e-mail updates every 2 weeks (from which we can speculate) and official calls once a month to tell us where we are in line. I am so glad we "unofficially" moved because I was starting to loath the #9. In other news the estimated wait time for a referral has moved from 4-6 months to 6-8 months. Yuck.

Here's to hoping for a much shorter wait... (however, if it does turn out to be that long I might need a few glasses to get me through it)

10 Weeks

It has been 10 weeks of waiting on the wait list. So far the movement has been extremely discouraging. To date we have moved three spots in 2 and 1/2 months. Not exactly what we had been anticipating. When we first got on the list it was after a couple months of 6-7 referrals every month. We were very optimistic that we could have a referral by this point. The fact that we don't might be a bit easier to swallow if we were closer than #9. Now #9 really doesn't sound THAT bad. At least we are in the single digits. Unfortunately, our current track record points to another very LONG 7 and 1/2 months before a referral. Now do I really think it will take that long? NO! And it better not since we were quoted a wait time of 2-4 months. Unfortunately, as certain as I am that we will not be waiting until February 2009 for a referral that is exactly the rate at which we are moving so I have no real reason to believe otherwise.

At first I was optimistic that going on the wait list the first week of April meant a shot at a baby before the courts close (August). After a while of no movement at all, I started telling myself we will have a baby in October or November. Lately, I have been feeling very frustrated and am wondering if we will even become parents in 2008!

This is one of those life situations where my heart and mind are in battle with one another. My head says it will happen in God's time. My head said there is a reason for the wait even though it might be hard to decipher what that is. My head says we have to wait for the perfect fit for our family. Meanwhile, my heart doesn't understand why it is taking so long. What could possibly be the point of no movement? Why, why, why? We came to the decision we were ready to be parents and decided to adopt. Once we came to this conclusion it was kind of like "we are ready NOW!" So what's the hold up? I know there is no lack of children who need families.

While this inner struggle continues on, I find myself constantly thinking about our little boy even though he is a stranger to me. Brian will ask me what I am thinking and often my answer is, "about our baby." I picture him in my mind. Chocolate skin, big brown sparkling eyes, a toothless drooling smile (hmm, maybe not, maybe a tooth or two), dimples, tight black curls (although for some reason I picture him being bald in our referral picture). Of course I really have no idea what our son will look like but it is still fun to think about.

All this to say the wait is getting really lame and it would be very nice to see some movement.